How to Type the Degree Symbol on a Mac

Whether you're writing about temperatures, angles, or geographic coordinates, the degree symbol (°) is one of those characters that doesn't live on any visible key. On a Mac, you have several ways to insert it — and which method works best depends on how often you need it, what app you're working in, and how your keyboard is configured.

The Fastest Method: Keyboard Shortcut

The quickest way to type the degree symbol on a Mac is with a keyboard shortcut:

Press: Option + Shift + 8

This inputs the ° character instantly, without opening any menus or panels. It works in most standard Mac applications — Pages, TextEdit, Mail, Notes, Safari address bars, and many third-party apps.

🔑 This shortcut works because macOS maps extended Unicode characters to Option-key combinations. The degree symbol sits at a specific Unicode code point (U+00B0), and Apple assigned it to this key combination across its operating systems.

Alternative Method: Character Viewer

If you don't want to memorize the shortcut, macOS includes a built-in tool called the Character Viewer (sometimes called the Emoji & Symbols panel).

To access it:

1. Click into any text field where you want the symbol
2. Press Control + Command + Space
3. In the search bar, type "degree"
4. Double-click the ° symbol to insert it

The Character Viewer also lets you favorite frequently used symbols, so the degree symbol can appear at the top of the panel on future visits. This is useful if you're switching between many special characters regularly.

Using the Unicode Hex Input Method

For users who work with technical or scientific documents and need precise control over character input, macOS supports direct Unicode entry — but it requires enabling a specific keyboard input source first.

Setup:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources
2. Add Unicode Hex Input as an input method
3. Switch to it using the menu bar input source selector

Once active:

• Hold Option and type 00B0 (the Unicode code point for °)
• The symbol appears when you release Option

This method is powerful but adds a step every time you switch keyboard modes, so it's better suited for specialized workflows than everyday use.

Degree Symbol in Specific Apps 🌡️

The method that works best can vary by application:

Microsoft Word on Mac also has its own Insert → Advanced Symbol menu, where you can find ° under the Latin-1 Supplement character set and assign it a custom shortcut if you prefer.

In code editors like VS Code or BBEdit, the keyboard shortcut usually works, but some editors intercept Option-key combinations for their own functions — in those cases, copy-pasting or the Character Viewer is more reliable.

What About the Masculine Ordinal Indicator?

This is a common source of confusion. Pressing Option + 0 (zero) produces º — which looks almost identical to ° but is actually the masculine ordinal indicator, a typographic character used in some languages (like Spanish or Italian) for ordinal numbers (1º, 2º).

In most contexts — especially scientific or temperature notation — the correct character is °, not º. They may look identical in some fonts, but they have different Unicode values and different semantic meanings.

Text Replacement as a Workaround

macOS has a built-in Text Replacement feature that can automatically swap a short text string for any character, including °.

To set it up:

1. Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacements
2. Click the + button
3. Set Replace to something like deg or degr
4. Set With to ° (paste the symbol in)

After saving, typing your chosen shortcut in any compatible app will auto-replace it with the degree symbol. This works well in Apple's native apps but may not function in all third-party applications.

Variables That Affect Which Method Works for You

Not every method works equally well across every setup:

• macOS version — System Settings layout differs between Ventura/Sonoma and older macOS versions (Monterey and earlier used System Preferences instead)
• Keyboard language/layout — Non-English keyboard layouts may have different Option-key mappings; the shortcut above is specific to the US layout
• Application type — Native Mac apps generally support all methods; web apps and cross-platform tools can behave differently
• Input Source settings — If you switch between multiple input sources (languages, Unicode Hex, etc.), the active source affects which shortcuts respond

The degree symbol is a small detail, but getting the right character — and the right workflow for inserting it — depends on the combination of your keyboard layout, the apps you use most, and how often you actually need it. What's frictionless for someone writing scientific papers in Pages may not suit someone toggling between a code editor and a browser all day.